Former Peruvian spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for embezzlement, conspiracy and corruption.

The close aide of ex-President Alberto Fujimori is already serving a nine-year sentence and faces a series of trials.

A Peruvian court found him guilty of paying millions of dollars in bribes to TV executives to secure their support for Mr Fujimori's candidacy in 2000.

It is the fifth guilty verdict against him since he went on trial in 2002.

Corruption scandal

Montesinos sparked the corruption scandal that brought down the government in 2000, when a video appeared apparently showing him bribing an opposition politician, Luis Alberto Kouri.

He is being held in a high security naval base near Lima after being convicted of other offences.

The former intelligence chief is awaiting trial on dozens of other charges, including money laundering and drug trafficking.

Last week a court in the Peruvian capital, Lima, acquitted Montesinos of corruption and conspiracy charges. Montesinos had been accused of securing a favourable judgement for a relative of the mayor of Callao, who faced drugs trafficking charges.